1 main, 1 active interface, Main – Campbell Scientific RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radios User Manual

Page 28: Active interface

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RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio

11.1 Main

11.1.1 Active Interface

The radio provides three physical ports for interfacing to a computer,

datalogger, or other device. They are USB, RS-232, and CS I/O. The CS I/O

port has two operational modes, SDC and ME Master. Additionally, there is

PakBus Router which is a software defined interface that disables normal

operation of all of the physical ports. Only one interface can be selected as

active at any given time. Note that despite the value of this setting, the USB

port will always be available for configuration.

Interface

Description

CS I/O SDC

Use this setting when the CS I/O port is connected to a

Campbell Scientific datalogger CS I/O port. The

devices will use the concurrent synchronous device for

communication protocol. Also, see the setting SDC

Address and make sure that multiple SDC devices

connected to a single CS I/O port use unique SDC

addresses.

RS-232

Use this setting when the RS-232 port is connected to

the RS-232 port of a datalogger, computer, or another

RS-232 device. This setting is most commonly used

when connecting the radio to a device without a CS I/O

port or when linking two communication peripherals,

for example directly connecting the radio to an Ethernet

serial server. Also, see RS-232 Baud Rate and the

advanced settings RS-232 Parity, Stop Bits, Character

Length, and Auto Power Down.

USB

Use this setting when connecting the radio to a

computer. This setting is the most common when the

device is used as a “base radio” for a network. A

computer’s USB port can simultaneously be used for

powering and communicating with the device.

PakBus Router

Use this setting when a stand-alone PakBus® router is

required to repeat messages through a network. In this

mode, the CS I/O, RS-232, and USB ports are NOT

available for connecting other devices for normal

network operations. Note that despite the value of this

setting, the USB port will always be available for

configuration. The Protocol setting must be set as

PakBus Node. Also ensure that PakBus Address is

unique within the PakBus network.

CS I/O ME

Master

Use this setting only under special circumstances where

the CSI/O port is connected to another Campbell

Scientific peripheral configured for Modem Enable

(ME) through an A100 Null Modem Adapter. The

A100 will swap TX / RX and ME / RING and supply

power to the devices. The ME Baud Rate of both

devices must match. An example includes connecting

this device to a COM2xx phone modem. Also see ME

Baud Rate.

18

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